Power distribution module(s) capable of hot connection and/or disconnection for wireless communication systems, and related power units, components, and methods

ABSTRACT

Power distribution modules are configured to distribute power to a power-consuming component(s), such as a remote antenna unit(s) (RAU(s)). By “hot” connection and/or disconnection, the power distribution modules can be connected and/or disconnected from a power unit and/or a power-consuming component(s) while power is being provided to the power distribution modules. Power is not required to be disabled in the power unit before connection and/or disconnection of power distribution modules. The power distribution modules may be configured to protect against or reduce electrical arcing or electrical contact erosion that may otherwise result from “hot” connection and/or connection of the power distribution modules.

PRIORITY APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/614,124, filed Jun. 5, 2017, which in turn is acontinuation of and claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/899,118, filed May 21, 2013 and now issued as U.S. Pat. No.9,685,782, which is a continuation of International Application No.PCT/US11/61761 filed Nov. 22, 2011, which claims the benefit of priorityto U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/416,780 filed on Nov.24, 2010, all of these applications being incorporated herein byreference.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/466,514 filed on filed May 15, 2009 and entitled “Power DistributionDevices, Systems, and Methods For Radio-Over-Fiber (RoF) DistributedCommunication,” now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,155,525, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND Field of the Disclosure

The technology of the disclosure relates to power units for providingpower to remote antenna units in a distributed antenna system.

Technical Background

Wireless communication is rapidly growing, with ever-increasing demandsfor high-speed mobile data communication. As an example, so-called“wireless fidelity” or “WiFi” systems and wireless local area networks(WLANs) are being deployed in many different types of areas (e.g.,coffee shops, airports, libraries, etc.). Distributed communications orantenna systems communicate with wireless devices called “clients,”which must reside within the wireless range or “cell coverage area” inorder to communicate with an access point device.

One approach to deploying a distributed antenna system involves the useof radio frequency (RF) antenna coverage areas, also referred to as“antenna coverage areas.” Antenna coverage areas can have a radius inthe range from a few meters up to twenty meters as an example. Combininga number of access point devices creates an array of antenna coverageareas. Because the antenna coverage areas each cover small areas, thereare typically only a few users (clients) per antenna coverage area. Thisallows for minimizing the amount of RF bandwidth shared among thewireless system users. It may be desirable to provide antenna coverageareas in a building or other facility to provide distributed antennasystem access to clients within the building or facility. However, itmay be desirable to employ optical fiber to distribute communicationsignals. Benefits of optical fiber include increased bandwidth.

One type of distributed antenna system for creating antenna coverageareas includes distribution of RF communications signals over anelectrical conductor medium, such as coaxial cable or twisted pairwiring. Another type of distributed antenna system for creating antennacoverage areas, called “Radio-over-Fiber” or “RoF,” utilizes RFcommunications signals sent over optical fibers. Both types of systemscan include head-end equipment coupled to a plurality of remote antennaunits (RAUs) that each provides antenna coverage areas. The RAUs caneach include RF transceivers coupled to an antenna to transmit RFcommunications signals wirelessly, wherein the RAUs are coupled to thehead-end equipment via the communication medium. The RF transceivers inthe remote antenna units are transparent to the RF communicationssignals. The antennas in the RAUs also receive RF signals (i.e.,electromagnetic radiation) from clients in the antenna coverage area.The RF signals are then sent over the communication medium to thehead-end equipment. In optical fiber or RoF distributed antenna systems,the RAUs convert incoming optical RF signals from an optical fiberdownlink to electrical RF signals via optical-to-electrical (O/E)converters, which are then passed to the RF transceiver. The RAUs alsoconvert received electrical RF communications signals from clients viathe antennas to optical RF communications signals viaelectrical-to-optical (E/O) converters. The optical RF signals are thensent over an optical fiber uplink to the head-end equipment.

The RAUs contain power-consuming components, such as the RF transceiver,to transmit and receive RF communications signals and thus require powerto operate. In the situation of an optical fiber-based distributedantenna system, the RAUs may contain O/E and E/O converters that alsorequire power to operate. As an example, the RAU may contain a housingthat includes a power supply to provide power to the RAUs locally at theRAU. The power supply may be configured to be connected to a powersource, such as an alternating current (AC) power source, and convert ACpower into a direct current (DC) power signal. Alternatively, power maybe provided to the RAUs from remote power supplies. The remote powersuppliers may be configured to provide power to multiple RAUs. It may bedesirable to provide these power supplies in modular units or devicesthat may be easily inserted or removed from a housing to provide power.Providing modular power distribution modules allows power to more easilybe configured as needed for the distributed antenna system. For example,a remotely located power unit may be provided that contains a pluralityof ports or slots to allow a plurality of power distribution modules tobe inserted therein. The power unit may have ports that allow the powerto be provided over an electrical conductor medium to the RAUs. Thus,when a power distribution module is inserted in the power unit in a portor slot that corresponds to a given RAU, power from the powerdistribution module is supplied to the RAU.

It may be desired to allow these power distribution modules to beinserted and removed from the power unit without deactivating otherpower distribution modules providing power to other RAUs. If power tothe power unit were required to be deactivated, RF communications forall RAUs that receiver power from the power unit may be disabled, evenif the power distribution module inserted and/or removed from the powerunit is configured to supply power to only a subset of the RAUsreceiving power from the power unit. However, inserting and removingpower distribution modules in a power unit while power is active andbeing provided in the power unit may cause electrical arcing andelectrical contact erosion that can damage the power distribution moduleor power-consuming components connected to the power distributionmodule.

SUMMARY OF THE DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments disclosed in the detailed description include powerdistribution modules capable of “hot” connection and/or disconnection indistributed antenna systems (DASs). Related power units, components, andmethods are also disclosed. By “hot” connection and/or disconnection, itis meant that the power distribution modules can be connected and/ordisconnected from a power unit and/or power-consuming components whilepower is being provided to the power distribution modules. In thisregard, it is not required to disable providing power to the powerdistribution module before connection and/or disconnection of powerdistribution modules to a power unit and/or power-consuming components.As a non-limiting example, the power distribution modules may beconfigured to protect against or reduce electrical arcing or electricalcontact erosion that may otherwise result from “hot” connection and/ordisconnection.

In embodiments disclosed herein, the power distribution modules can beinstalled in and connected to a power unit for providing power to apower-consuming DAS component(s), such as a remote antenna unit(s)(RAU(s)) as a non-limiting example. Main power is provided to the powerunit and distributed to power distribution modules installed andconnected in the power unit. Power from the main power provided by thepower unit is distributed by each of the power distribution modules toany power-consuming DAS components connected to the power distributionmodules. The power distribution modules distribute power to thepower-consuming DAS components to provide power for power-consumingcomponents in the power-consuming DAS components.

In this regard in one embodiment, a power distribution module fordistributing power in a distributed antenna system is provided. Thepower distribution module comprises an input power port configured toreceive input power from an external power source. The powerdistribution module also comprises at least one output power portconfigured to receive output power and distribute the output power to atleast one distributed antenna system (DAS) power-consuming deviceelectrically coupled to the at least one output power port. The powerdistribution module also comprises at least one power controllerconfigured to selectively distribute output power as the input power tothe at least one output power port based on a power enable signalcoupled to the enable input port. Other embodiments are also disclosedherein.

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a furtherunderstanding, and are incorporated into and constitute a part of thisspecification. The drawings illustrate various embodiments, and togetherwith the description serve to explain the principles and operation ofthe concepts disclosed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary distributed antennasystem;

FIG. 2 is a more detailed schematic diagram of exemplary head-endequipment and a remote antenna unit (RAU) that can be deployed in thedistributed antenna system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3A is a partially schematic cut-away diagram of an exemplarybuilding infrastructure in which the distributed antenna system in FIG.1 can be employed;

FIG. 3B is an alternative diagram of the distributed antenna system inFIG. 3A;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of exemplary head-end equipment (HEE) toprovide radio frequency (RF) communication services to RAUs or otherremote communications devices in a distributed antenna system;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary distributed antenna systemwith alternative equipment to provide RF communication services anddigital data services to RAUs or other remote communications devices ina distributed antenna system;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of providing digital data services and RFcommunication services to RAUs or other remote communications devices inthe distributed antenna system of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary power distribution modulethat is supported by a power unit and is capable of “hot” connectionand/or disconnection;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of internal components of the powerdistribution module in FIG. 7 to allow “hot” connection and/ordisconnection of the power distribution module from a power unit andremote antenna units (RAUs) in a distributed antenna system;

FIG. 9 is a side perspective view of an input power connector in thepower distribution module of FIG. 7 configured to be inserted into aninput power connector in a power unit to receive input power from thepower unit, and an output power connector of a power cable configured tobe inserted into an output power connector in the power distributionmodule of FIG. 7 to distribute output power from the power distributionmodule through the output power connector and power cable to at leastone power-consuming DAS device;

FIG. 10A illustrates a front, side perspective view of an exemplarypower distribution module with a cover installed;

FIG. 10B illustrates a front, side perspective view of the powerdistribution module in FIG. 10A with the cover removed;

FIG. 10C illustrates a rear, side perspective view of the powerdistribution module in FIG. 10A;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of the power controller in the powerdistribution module in FIG. 8;

FIG. 12 is a side view of input power receptacles of the input powerconnector in the power distribution module in FIG. 8 aligned to beconnected to input power ports in an input power connector of the powerunit in FIG. 8;

FIG. 13 is a side view of output power pins of the output powerconnector of the power cable in FIG. 8 aligned to be connected to outputpower receptacles of the output power connector in the powerdistribution module in FIG. 8;

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary power unit configured tosupport one or more power distribution modules to provide power to RAUsin a distributed antenna system; and

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of a generalized representation of anexemplary computer system that can be included in the power distributionmodules disclosed herein, wherein the exemplary computer system isadapted to execute instructions from an exemplary computer-readablemedia.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments, examples ofwhich are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which some, butnot all embodiments are shown. Indeed, the concepts may be embodied inmany different forms and should not be construed as limiting herein;rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure willsatisfy applicable legal requirements. Whenever possible, like referencenumbers will be used to refer to like components or parts.

Embodiments disclosed in the detailed description include powerdistribution modules capable of “hot” connection and/or disconnection indistributed antenna systems (DASs). Related components, power units, andmethods are also disclosed. By “hot” connection and/or disconnection, itis meant that the power distribution modules can be connected and/ordisconnected from a power unit and/or power-consuming components whilepower is being provided to the power distribution modules. In thisregard, it is not required to disable providing power to the powerdistribution module before connection and/or disconnection of powerdistribution modules to a power unit and/or power-consuming components.As a non-limiting example, the power distribution modules may beconfigured to protect against or reduce electrical arcing or electricalcontact erosion that may otherwise result from “hot” connection and/ordisconnection.

In embodiments disclosed herein, the power distribution modules can beinstalled in and connected to a power unit for providing power to apower-consuming DAS component(s), such as a remote antenna unit(s)(RAU(s)) as a non-limiting example. Main power is provided to the powerunit and distributed to power distribution modules installed andconnected in the power unit. Power from the main power provided by thepower unit is distributed by each of the power distribution modules toany power-consuming DAS components connected to the power distributionmodules. The power distribution modules distribute power to thepower-consuming DAS components to provide power for power-consumingcomponents in the power-consuming DAS components.

Before discussing examples of power distribution modules capable of“hot” connection and/or disconnection in distributed antenna systems(DASs), exemplary distributed antenna systems capable of distributing RFcommunications signals to distributed or remote antenna units (RAUs) arefirst described with regard to FIGS. 1-6. The distributed antennasystems in FIGS. 1-6 can include power units located remotely from RAUsthat provide power to the RAUs for operation. Embodiments of powerdistribution modules capable of “hot” connection and/or disconnection indistributed antenna systems, including the distributed antenna systemsin FIGS. 1-6, begin with FIG. 7. The distributed antenna systems inFIGS. 1-6 discussed below include distribution of radio frequency (RF)communications signals; however, the distributed antenna systems are notlimited to distribution of RF communications signals. Also note thatwhile the distributed antenna systems in FIGS. 1-6 discussed belowinclude distribution of communications signals over optical fiber, thesedistributed antenna systems are not limited to distribution over opticalfiber. Distribution mediums could also include, but are not limited to,coaxial cable, twisted-pair conductors, wireless transmission andreception, and any combination thereof. Also, any combination can beemployed that also involves optical fiber for portions of thedistributed antenna system.

In this regard, FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of adistributed antenna system. In this embodiment, the system is an opticalfiber-based distributed antenna system 10. The distributed antennasystem 10 is configured to create one or more antenna coverage areas forestablishing communications with wireless client devices located in theRF range of the antenna coverage areas. The distributed antenna system10 provides RF communication services (e.g., cellular services). In thisembodiment, the distributed antenna system 10 includes head-endequipment (HEE) 12 such as a head-end unit (HEU), one or more remoteantenna units (RAUs) 14, and an optical fiber 16 that optically couplesthe HEE 12 to the RAU 14. The RAU 14 is a type of remote communicationsunit. In general, a remote communications unit can support eitherwireless communications, wired communications, or both. The RAU 14 cansupport wireless communications and may also support wiredcommunications. The HEE 12 is configured to receive communications overdownlink electrical RF signals 18D from a source or sources, such as anetwork or carrier as examples, and provide such communications to theRAU 14. The HEE 12 is also configured to return communications receivedfrom the RAU 14, via uplink electrical RF signals 18U, back to thesource or sources. In this regard in this embodiment, the optical fiber16 includes at least one downlink optical fiber 16D to carry signalscommunicated from the HEE 12 to the RAU 14 and at least one uplinkoptical fiber 16U to carry signals communicated from the RAU 14 back tothe HEE 12.

One downlink optical fiber 16D and one uplink optical fiber 16U could beprovided to support multiple channels each using wave-divisionmultiplexing (WDM), as discussed in U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/892,424 entitled “Providing Digital Data Services in OpticalFiber-based Distributed Radio Frequency (RF) Communications Systems, AndRelated Components and Methods,” incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety. Other options for WDM and frequency-division multiplexing(FDM) are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/892,424, anyof which can be employed in any of the embodiments disclosed herein.Further, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/892,424 also disclosesdistributed digital data communications signals in a distributed antennasystem which may also be distributed in the optical fiber-baseddistributed antenna system 10 either in conjunction with RFcommunications signals or not.

The optical fiber-based distributed antenna system 10 has an antennacoverage area 20 that can be disposed about the RAU 14. The antennacoverage area 20 of the RAU 14 forms an RF coverage area 21. The HEE 12is adapted to perform or to facilitate any one of a number ofRadio-over-Fiber (RoF) applications, such as RF identification (RFID),wireless local-area network (WLAN) communication, or cellular phoneservice. Shown within the antenna coverage area 20 is a client device 24in the form of a mobile device as an example, which may be a cellulartelephone as an example. The client device 24 can be any device that iscapable of receiving RF communications signals. The client device 24includes an antenna 26 (e.g., a wireless card) adapted to receive and/orsend electromagnetic RF signals.

With continuing reference to FIG. 1, to communicate the electrical RFsignals over the downlink optical fiber 16D to the RAU 14, to in turn becommunicated to the client device 24 in the antenna coverage area 20formed by the RAU 14, the HEE 12 includes a radio interface in the formof an electrical-to-optical (E/O) converter 28. The E/O converter 28converts the downlink electrical RF signals 18D to downlink optical RFsignals 22D to be communicated over the downlink optical fiber 16D. TheRAU 14 includes an optical-to-electrical (O/E) converter 30 to convertreceived downlink optical RF signals 22D back to electrical RF signalsto be communicated wirelessly through an antenna 32 of the RAU 14 toclient devices 24 located in the antenna coverage area 20.

Similarly, the antenna 32 is also configured to receive wireless RFcommunications from client devices 24 in the antenna coverage area 20.In this regard, the antenna 32 receives wireless RF communications fromclient devices 24 and communicates electrical RF signals representingthe wireless RF communications to an E/O converter 34 in the RAU 14. TheE/O converter 34 converts the electrical RF signals into uplink opticalRF signals 22U to be communicated over the uplink optical fiber 16U. AnO/E converter 36 provided in the HEE 12 converts the uplink optical RFsignals 22U into uplink electrical RF signals, which can then becommunicated as uplink electrical RF signals 18U back to a network orother source. The HEE 12 in this embodiment is not able to distinguishthe location of the client devices 24 in this embodiment. The clientdevice 24 could be in the range of any antenna coverage area 20 formedby an RAU 14.

FIG. 2 is a more detailed schematic diagram of the exemplary distributedantenna system 10 of FIG. 1 that provides electrical RF service signalsfor a particular RF service or application. In an exemplary embodiment,the HEE 12 includes a service unit 37 that provides electrical RFservice signals by passing (or conditioning and then passing) suchsignals from one or more outside networks 38 via a network link 39. In aparticular example embodiment, this includes providing cellular signaldistribution in the frequency range from 400 MegaHertz (MHz) to 2.7GigaHertz (GHz). Any other electrical RF signal frequencies arepossible. In another exemplary embodiment, the service unit 37 provideselectrical RF service signals by generating the signals directly. Inanother exemplary embodiment, the service unit 37 coordinates thedelivery of the electrical RF service signals between client devices 24within the antenna coverage area 20.

With continuing reference to FIG. 2, the service unit 37 is electricallycoupled to the E/O converter 28 that receives the downlink electrical RFsignals 18D from the service unit 37 and converts them to correspondingdownlink optical RF signals 22D. In an exemplary embodiment, the E/Oconverter 28 includes a laser suitable for delivering sufficient dynamicrange for the RoF applications described herein, and optionally includesa laser driver/amplifier electrically coupled to the laser. Examples ofsuitable lasers for the E/O converter 28 include, but are not limitedto, laser diodes, distributed feedback (DFB) lasers, Fabry-Perot (FP)lasers, and vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs).

With continuing reference to FIG. 2, the HEE 12 also includes the O/Econverter 36, which is electrically coupled to the service unit 37. TheO/E converter 36 receives the uplink optical RF signals 22U and convertsthem to corresponding uplink electrical RF signals 18U. In an exampleembodiment, the O/E converter 36 is a photodetector, or a photodetectorelectrically coupled to a linear amplifier. The E/O converter 28 and theO/E converter 36 constitute a “converter pair” 35, as illustrated inFIG. 2.

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the service unit 37 in theHEE 12 can include an RF signal conditioner unit 40 for conditioning thedownlink electrical RF signals 18D and the uplink electrical RF signals18U, respectively. The service unit 37 can include a digital signalprocessing unit (“digital signal processor”) 42 for providing to the RFsignal conditioner unit 40 an electrical signal that is modulated ontoan RF carrier to generate a desired downlink electrical RF signal 18D.The digital signal processor 42 is also configured to process ademodulation signal provided by the demodulation of the uplinkelectrical RF signal 18U by the RF signal conditioner unit 40. The HEE12 can also include an optional central processing unit (CPU) 44 forprocessing data and otherwise performing logic and computing operations,and a memory unit 46 for storing data, such as data to be transmittedover a WLAN or other network for example.

With continuing reference to FIG. 2, the RAU 14 also includes aconverter pair 48 comprising the O/E converter 30 and the E/O converter34. The O/E converter 30 converts the received downlink optical RFsignals 22D from the HEE 12 back into downlink electrical RF signals50D. The E/O converter 34 converts uplink electrical RF signals 50Ureceived from the client device 24 into the uplink optical RF signals22U to be communicated to the HEE 12. The O/E converter 30 and the E/Oconverter 34 are electrically coupled to the antenna 32 via an RFsignal-directing element 52, such as a circulator for example. The RFsignal-directing element 52 serves to direct the downlink electrical RFsignals 50D and the uplink electrical RF signals 50U, as discussedbelow. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the antenna 32 caninclude any type of antenna, including but not limited to one or morepatch antennas, such as disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/504,999, filed Aug. 16, 2006 entitled “Radio-over-Fiber TransponderWith A Dual-Band Patch Antenna System,” and U.S. patent application Ser.No. 11/451,553, filed Jun. 12, 2006 entitled “Centralized OpticalFiber-Based Wireless Picocellular Systems and Methods,” both of whichare incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

With continuing reference to FIG. 2, the optical fiber-based distributedantenna system 10 also includes a power unit 54 that includes a powersupply and provides an electrical power signal 56. The power unit 54 iselectrically coupled to the HEE 12 for powering the power-consumingelements therein. In an exemplary embodiment, an electrical power line58 runs through the HEE 12 and over to the RAU 14 to power the O/Econverter 30 and the E/O converter 34 in the converter pair 48, theoptional RF signal-directing element 52 (unless the RF signal-directingelement 52 is a passive device such as a circulator for example), andany other power-consuming elements provided. In an exemplary embodiment,the electrical power line 58 includes two wires 60 and 62 that carry avoltage, and are electrically coupled to a DC power converter 64 at theRAU 14. The DC power converter 64 is electrically coupled to the O/Econverter 30 and the E/O converter 34 in the converter pair 48, andchanges the voltage or levels of the electrical power signal 56 to thepower level(s) required by the power-consuming components in the RAU 14.In an exemplary embodiment, the DC power converter 64 is either a DC/DCpower converter or an AC/DC power converter, depending on the type ofelectrical power signal 56 carried by the electrical power line 58. Inanother example embodiment, the electrical power line 58 (dashed line)runs directly from the power unit 54 to the RAU 14 rather than from orthrough the HEE 12. In another example embodiment, the electrical powerline 58 includes more than two wires and may carry multiple voltages.

To provide further exemplary illustration of how a distributed antennasystem can be deployed indoors, FIG. 3A is provided. FIG. 3A is apartially schematic cut-away diagram of a building infrastructure 70employing an optical fiber-based distributed antenna system. The systemmay be the optical fiber-based distributed antenna system 10 of FIGS. 1and 2. The building infrastructure 70 generally represents any type ofbuilding in which the optical fiber-based distributed antenna system 10can be deployed. As previously discussed with regard to FIGS. 1 and 2,the optical fiber-based distributed antenna system 10 incorporates theHEE 12 to provide various types of communication services to coverageareas within the building infrastructure 70, as an example.

For example, as discussed in more detail below, the distributed antennasystem 10 in this embodiment is configured to receive wireless RFsignals and convert the RF signals into RoF signals to be communicatedover the optical fiber 16 to multiple RAUs 14. The optical fiber-baseddistributed antenna system 10 in this embodiment can be, for example, anindoor distributed antenna system (IDAS) to provide wireless serviceinside the building infrastructure 70. These wireless signals caninclude cellular service, wireless services such as RFID tracking,Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), local area network (LAN), WLAN, public safety,wireless building automations, and combinations thereof, as examples.

With continuing reference to FIG. 3A, the building infrastructure 70 inthis embodiment includes a first (ground) floor 72, a second floor 74,and a third floor 76. The floors 72, 74, 76 are serviced by the HEE 12through a main distribution frame 78 to provide antenna coverage areas80 in the building infrastructure 70. Only the ceilings of the floors72, 74, 76 are shown in FIG. 3A for simplicity of illustration. In theexample embodiment, a main cable 82 has a number of different sectionsthat facilitate the placement of a large number of RAUs 14 in thebuilding infrastructure 70. Each RAU 14 in turn services its owncoverage area in the antenna coverage areas 80. The main cable 82 caninclude, for example, a riser cable 84 that carries all of the downlinkand uplink optical fibers 16D, 16U to and from the HEE 12. The risercable 84 may be routed through a power unit 85. The power unit 85 may beprovided as part of or separate from the power unit 54 in FIG. 2. Thepower unit 85 may also be configured to provide power to the RAUs 14 viathe electrical power line 58, as illustrated in FIG. 2 and discussedabove, provided inside an array cable 87, or tail cable or home-runtether cable as other examples, and distributed with the downlink anduplink optical fibers 16D, 16U to the RAUs 14. For example, asillustrated in the building infrastructure 70 in FIG. 3B, a tail cable89 may extend from the power units 85 into an array cable 93. Downlinkand uplink optical fibers in tether cables 95 of the array cables 93 arerouted to each of the RAUs 14, as illustrated in FIG. 3B. The main cable82 can include one or more multi-cable (MC) connectors adapted toconnect select downlink and uplink optical fibers 16D, 16U, along withan electrical power line, to a number of optical fiber cables 86.

The main cable 82 enables multiple optical fiber cables 86 to bedistributed throughout the building infrastructure 70 (e.g., fixed tothe ceilings or other support surfaces of each floor 72, 74, 76) toprovide the antenna coverage areas 80 for the first, second, and thirdfloors 72, 74, and 76. In an example embodiment, the HEE 12 is locatedwithin the building infrastructure 70 (e.g., in a closet or controlroom), while in another example embodiment, the HEE 12 may be locatedoutside of the building infrastructure 70 at a remote location. A basetransceiver station (BTS) 88, which may be provided by a second partysuch as a cellular service provider, is connected to the HEE 12, and canbe co-located or located remotely from the HEE 12. A BTS is any stationor signal source that provides an input signal to the HEE 12 and canreceive a return signal from the HEE 12.

In a typical cellular system, for example, a plurality of BTSs aredeployed at a plurality of remote locations to provide wirelesstelephone coverage. Each BTS serves a corresponding cell and when amobile client device enters the cell, the BTS communicates with themobile client device. Each BTS can include at least one radiotransceiver for enabling communication with one or more subscriber unitsoperating within the associated cell. As another example, wirelessrepeaters or bi-directional amplifiers could also be used to serve acorresponding cell in lieu of a BTS. Alternatively, radio input could beprovided by a repeater, picocell or femtocell as other examples.

The optical fiber-based distributed antenna system 10 in FIGS. 1-3B anddescribed above provides point-to-point communications between the HEE12 and the RAU 14. A multi-point architecture is also possible as well.With regard to FIGS. 1-3B, each RAU 14 communicates with the HEE 12 overa distinct downlink and uplink optical fiber pair to provide thepoint-to-point communications. Whenever an RAU 14 is installed in theoptical fiber-based distributed antenna system 10, the RAU 14 isconnected to a distinct downlink and uplink optical fiber pair connectedto the HEE 12. The downlink and uplink optical fibers 16D, 16U may beprovided in a fiber optic cable. Multiple downlink and uplink opticalfiber pairs can be provided in a fiber optic cable to service multipleRAUs 14 from a common fiber optic cable.

For example, with reference to FIG. 3A, RAUs 14 installed on a givenfloor 72, 74, or 76 may be serviced from the same optical fiber 16. Inthis regard, the optical fiber 16 may have multiple nodes where distinctdownlink and uplink optical fiber pairs can be connected to a given RAU14. One downlink optical fiber 16D could be provided to support multiplechannels each using wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM), as discussedin U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/892,424 entitled “ProvidingDigital Data Services in Optical Fiber-based Distributed Radio Frequency(RF) Communications Systems, And Related Components and Methods,”incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Other options for WDMand frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) are also disclosed in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/892,424, any of which can be employed inany of the embodiments disclosed herein.

The HEE 12 may be configured to support any frequencies desired,including but not limited to US FCC and Industry Canada frequencies(824-849 MHz on uplink and 869-894 MHz on downlink), US FCC and IndustryCanada frequencies (1850-1915 MHz on uplink and 1930-1995 MHz ondownlink), US FCC and Industry Canada frequencies (1710-1755 MHz onuplink and 2110-2155 MHz on downlink), US FCC frequencies (698-716 MHzand 776-787 MHz on uplink and 728-746 MHz on downlink), EU R & TTEfrequencies (880-915 MHz on uplink and 925-960 MHz on downlink), EU R &TTE frequencies (1710-1785 MHz on uplink and 1805-1880 MHz on downlink),EU R & TTE frequencies (1920-1980 MHz on uplink and 2110-2170 MHz ondownlink), US FCC frequencies (806-824 MHz on uplink and 851-869 MHz ondownlink), US FCC frequencies (896-901 MHz on uplink and 929-941 MHz ondownlink), US FCC frequencies (793-805 MHz on uplink and 763-775 MHz ondownlink), and US FCC frequencies (2495-2690 MHz on uplink anddownlink).

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of exemplary HEE 90 that may be employedwith any of the distributed antenna systems disclosed herein, includingbut not limited to the distributed antenna system 10 in FIGS. 1-3. TheHEE 90 in this embodiment is configured to distribute RF communicationservices over optical fiber. In this embodiment as illustrated in FIG.4, the HEE 90 includes a head-end controller (HEC) 91 that manages thefunctions of the HEE 90 components and communicates with externaldevices via interfaces, such as an RS-232 port 92, a Universal SerialBus (USB) port 94, and an Ethernet port 96, as examples. The HEE 90 canbe connected to a plurality of BTSs, transceivers 100(1)-100(T), and thelike via BTS inputs 101(1)-101(T) and BTS outputs 102(1)-102(T). Thenotation “1-T” indicates that any number of BTS transceivers can beprovided up to T number with corresponding BTS inputs and BTS outputs.

With continuing reference to FIG. 4, the BTS inputs 101(1)-101(T) aredownlink connections and the BTS outputs 102(1)-102(T) are uplinkconnections. Each BTS input 101(1)-101(T) is connected to a downlinkradio interface in the form of a downlink BTS interface card (BIC) 104in this embodiment, which is located in the HEE 90, and each BTS output102(1)-102(T) is connected to a radio interface in the form of an uplinkBIC 106 also located in the HEE 90. The downlink BIC 104 is configuredto receive incoming or downlink RF signals from the BTS inputs101(1)-101(T) and split the downlink RF signals into copies to becommunicated to the RAUs 14, as illustrated in FIG. 2. In thisembodiment, thirty-six (36) RAUs 14(1)-14(36) are supported by the HEE90, but any number of RAUs 14 may be supported by the HEE 90. The uplinkBIC 106 is configured to receive the combined outgoing or uplink RFsignals from the RAUs 14 and split the uplink RF signals into individualBTS outputs 102(1)-102(T) as a return communication path.

With continuing reference to FIG. 4, the downlink BIC 104 is connectedto a midplane interface card 108 in this embodiment. The uplink BIC 106is also connected to the midplane interface card 108. The downlink BIC104 and uplink BIC 106 can be provided in printed circuit boards (PCBs)that include connectors that can plug directly into the midplaneinterface card 108. The midplane interface card 108 is in electricalcommunication with a plurality of optical interfaces provided in theform of optical interface cards (OICs) 110 in this embodiment, whichprovide an optical to electrical communication interface and vice versabetween the RAUs 14 via the downlink and uplink optical fibers 16D, 16Uand the downlink BIC 104 and uplink BIC 106. The OICs 110 include theE/O converter 28 like discussed with regard to FIG. 1 that convertselectrical RF signals from the downlink BIC 104 to optical RF signals,which are then communicated over the downlink optical fibers 16D to theRAUs 14 and then to client devices. The OICs 110 also include the O/Econverter 36 like in FIG. 1 that converts optical RF signalscommunicated from the RAUs 14 over the uplink optical fibers 16U to theHEE 90 and then to the BTS outputs 102(1)-102(T).

With continuing reference to FIG. 4, the OICs 110 in this embodimentsupport up to three (3) RAUs 14 each. The OICs 110 can also be providedin a PCB that includes a connector that can plug directly into themidplane interface card 108 to couple the links in the OICs 110 to themidplane interface card 108. The OICs 110 may consist of one or multipleoptical interface modules (OIMs). In this manner, the HEE 90 is scalableto support up to thirty-six (36) RAUs 14 in this embodiment since theHEE 90 can support up to twelve (12) OICs 110. If less than thirty-six(36) RAUs 14 are to be supported by the HEE 90, less than twelve (12)OICs 110 can be included in the HEE 90 and plugged into the midplaneinterface card 108. One OIC 110 is provided for every three (3) RAUs 14supported by the HEE 90 in this embodiment. OICs 110 can also be addedto the HEE 90 and connected to the midplane interface card 108 ifadditional RAUs 14 are desired to be supported beyond an initialconfiguration. With continuing reference to FIG. 4, the HEU 91 can alsobe provided that is configured to be able to communicate with thedownlink BIC 104, the uplink BIC 106, and the OICs 110 to providevarious functions, including configurations of amplifiers andattenuators provided therein.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of another exemplary optical fiber-baseddistributed antenna system 120 that may be employed according to theembodiments disclosed herein to provide RF communication services. Inthis embodiment, the optical fiber-based distributed antenna system 120includes optical fiber for distributing RF communication services. Theoptical fiber-based distributed antenna system 120 in this embodiment iscomprised of three (3) main components. One or more radio interfacesprovided in the form of radio interface modules (RIMs) 122(1)-122(M) inthis embodiment are provided in HEE 124 to receive and process downlinkelectrical RF communications signals 126D(1)-126D(R) prior to opticalconversion into downlink optical RF communications signals. The RIMs122(1)-122(M) provide both downlink and uplink interfaces. Theprocessing of the downlink electrical RF communications signals126D(1)-126D(R) can include any of the processing previously describedabove in the HEE 12 in FIGS. 1-4. The notations “1-R” and “1-M” indicatethat any number of the referenced component, 1-R and 1-M, respectively,may be provided. As will be described in more detail below, the HEE 124is configured to accept a plurality of RIMs 122(1)-122(M) as modularcomponents that can easily be installed and removed or replaced in theHEE 124. In one embodiment, the HEE 124 is configured to support up toeight (8) RIMs 122(1)-122(M).

Each RIM 122(1)-122(M) can be designed to support a particular type ofradio source or range of radio sources (i.e., frequencies) to provideflexibility in configuring the HEE 124 and the optical fiber-baseddistributed antenna system 120 to support the desired radio sources. Forexample, one RIM 122 may be configured to support the PersonalCommunication Services (PCS) radio band. Another RIM 122 may beconfigured to support the 700 MHz radio band. In this example, byinclusion of these RIMs 122, the HEE 124 would be configured to supportand distribute RF communications signals on both PCS and LTE 700 radiobands. RIMs 122 may be provided in the HEE 124 that support anyfrequency bands desired, including but not limited to the US Cellularband, Personal Communication Services (PCS) band, Advanced WirelessServices (AWS) band, 700 MHz band, Global System for Mobilecommunications (GSM) 900, GSM 1800, and Universal MobileTelecommunication System (UMTS). RIMs 122 may be provided in the HEE 124that support any wireless technologies desired, including but notlimited to Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), CDMA200, 1×RTT,Evolution—Data Only (EV-DO), UMTS, High-speed Packet Access (HSPA), GSM,General Packet Radio Services (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment(EDGE), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE),iDEN, and Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD). RIMs 122 may be providedin the HEE 124 that support any frequencies desired referenced above asnon-limiting examples.

The downlink electrical RF communications signals 126D(1)-126D(R) areprovided to a plurality of optical interfaces provided in the form ofoptical interface modules (OIMs) 128(1)-128(N) in this embodiment toconvert the downlink electrical RF communications signals126D(1)-126D(N) into downlink optical RF communications signals130D(1)-130D(R). The notation “1-N” indicates that any number of thereferenced component 1-N may be provided. The OIMs 128 may be configuredto provide one or more optical interface components (OICs) that containO/E and E/O converters, as will be described in more detail below. TheOIMs 128 support the radio bands that can be provided by the RIMs 122,including the examples previously described above. Thus, in thisembodiment, the OIMs 128 may support a radio band range from 400 MHz to2700 MHz, as an example, so providing different types or models of OIMs128 for narrower radio bands to support possibilities for differentradio band-supported RIMs 122 provided in the HEE 124 is not required.Further, as an example, the OIMs 128 may be optimized for sub-bandswithin the 400 MHz to 2700 MHz frequency range, such as 400-700 MHz, 700MHz-1 GHz, 1 GHz-1.6 GHz, and 1.6 GHz-2.7 GHz, as examples.

The OIMs 128(1)-128(N) each include E/O converters to convert thedownlink electrical RF communications signals 126D(1)-126D(R) todownlink optical RF communications signals 130D(1)-130D(R). The downlinkoptical RF communications signals 130D(1)-130D(R) are communicated overdownlink optical fiber(s) 133D to a plurality of RAUs 132(1)-132(P). Thenotation “1-P” indicates that any number of the referenced component 1-Pmay be provided. O/E converters provided in the RAUs 132(1)-132(P)convert the downlink optical RF communications signals 130D(1)-130D(R)back into downlink electrical RF communications signals 126D(1)-126D(R),which are provided over downlinks 134(1)-134(P) coupled to antennas136(1)-136(P) in the RAUs 132(1)-132(P) to client devices in thereception range of the antennas 136(1)-136(P).

E/O converters are also provided in the RAUs 132(1)-132(P) to convertuplink electrical RF communications signals 126U(1)-126U(R) receivedfrom client devices through the antennas 136(1)-136(P) into uplinkoptical RF communications signals 138U(1)-138U(R) to be communicatedover uplink optical fibers 133U to the OIMs 128(1)-128(N). The OIMs128(1)-128(N) include O/E converters that convert the uplink optical RFcommunications signals 138U(1)-138U(R) into uplink electrical RFcommunications signals 140U(1)-140U(R) that are processed by the RIMs122(1)-122(M) and provided as uplink electrical RF communicationssignals 142U(1)-142U(R). Downlink electrical digital signals143D(1)-143D(P) communicated over downlink electrical medium or media(hereinafter “medium”) 145D(1)-145D(P) are provided to the RAUs132(1)-132(P), separately from the RF communication services, as well asuplink electrical digital signals 143U(1)-143U(P) communicated overuplink electrical medium 145U(1)-145U(P), as also illustrated in FIG. 6.Common elements between FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are illustrated in FIG. 6 withcommon element numbers. Power may be provided in the downlink and/oruplink electrical medium 145D(1)-145D(P) and/or 145U(1)-145U(P) to theRAUs 132(1)-132(P).

In one embodiment, up to thirty-six (36) RAUs 132 can be supported bythe OIMs 128, three RAUs 132 per OIM 128 in the optical fiber-baseddistributed antenna system 120 in FIG. 5. The optical fiber-baseddistributed antenna system 120 is scalable to address largerdeployments. In the illustrated optical fiber-based distributed antennasystem 120, the HEE 124 is configured to support up to thirty six (36)RAUs 132 and fit in 6U rack space (U unit meaning 1.75 inches ofheight). The downlink operational input power level can be in the rangeof −15 dBm to 33 dBm. The adjustable uplink system gain range can be inthe range of +15 dB to −15 dB. The RF input interface in the RIMs 122can be duplexed and simplex, N-Type. The optical fiber-based distributedantenna system can include sectorization switches to be configurable forsectorization capability, as discussed in U.S. patent application Ser.No. 12/914,585 filed on Oct. 28, 2010, and entitled “Sectorization InDistributed Antenna Systems, and Related Components and Method,” whichis incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

In another embodiment, an exemplary RAU 132 may be configured to supportup to four (4) different radio bands/carriers (e.g. ATT, VZW, TMobile,Metro PCS: 700LTE/850/1900/2100). Radio band upgrades can be supportedby adding remote expansion units over the same optical fiber (or upgradeto MIMO on any single band), as will be described in more detail belowstarting with FIG. 7. The RAUs 132 and/or remote expansion units may beconfigured to provide external filter interface to mitigate potentialstrong interference at 700 MHz band (Public Safety, CH51,56); SingleAntenna Port (N-type) provides DL output power per band (Low bands (<1GHz): 14 dBm, High bands (>1 GHz): 15 dBm); and satisfies the UL SystemRF spec (UL Noise Figure: 12 dB, UL IIP3: −5 dBm, UL AGC: 25 dB range).

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of providing digital data services and RFcommunication services to RAUs and/or other remote communications unitsin the optical fiber-based distributed antenna system 120 of FIG. 6.Common components between FIGS. 5 and 6 and other figures provided havethe same element numbers and thus will not be re-described. Asillustrated in FIG. 6, a power supply module (PSM) 153 may be providedto provide power to the RIMs 122(1)-122(M) and radio distribution cards(RDCs) 147 that distribute the RF communications from the RIMs122(1)-122(M) to the OIMs 128(1)-128(N) through RDCs 149. In oneembodiment, the RDCs 147, 149 can support different sectorization needs.A PSM 155 may also be provided to provide power to the OIMs128(1)-128(N). An interface 151, which may include web and networkmanagement system (NMS) interfaces, may also be provided to allowconfiguration and communication to the RIMs 122(1)-122(M) and othercomponents of the optical fiber-based distributed antenna system 120. Amicrocontroller, microprocessor, or other control circuitry, called ahead-end controller (HEC) 157 may be included in HEE 124 (FIG. 7) toprovide control operations for the HEE 124.

RAUs, including the RAUs 14, 132 discussed above, containpower-consuming components for transmitting and receiving RFcommunications signals. In the situation of an optical fiber-baseddistributed antenna system, the RAUs may contain O/E and E/O convertersthat also require power to operate. As an example, a RAU may contain apower unit that includes a power supply to provide power to the RAUslocally at the RAU. Alternatively, power may be provided to the RAUsfrom power supplies provided in remote power units. In either scenario,it may be desirable to provide these power supplies in modular units ordevices that may be easily inserted or removed from a power unit.Providing modular power distribution modules allows power to more easilybe configured as needed for the distributed antenna system. It may bedesired to allow these power distribution modules to be inserted andremoved from the power unit without deactivating other powerdistribution modules providing power to other RAUs. If power to theentire power unit were required to be deactivated, RF communications forall RAUs that receive power from the power unit would be disabled evenif the power distribution module inserted and/or removed from the powerunit is configured to supply power to only a subset of the RAUsreceiving power from the power unit.

In this regard, embodiments disclosed herein include power distributionmodules capable of “hot” connection and/or disconnection in distributedantenna systems (DASs). Related components, power units, and methods arealso disclosed. By “hot” connection and/or disconnection, it is meantthat the power distribution modules can be connected and/or disconnectedfrom a power unit and/or power-consuming components while power is beingprovided to the power distribution modules. In this regard, it is notrequired to disable providing power to the power distribution modulebefore connection and/or disconnection of power distribution modules toa power unit and/or power-consuming components. As a non-limitingexample, the power distribution modules may be configured to protectagainst or reduce electrical arching or electrical contact erosion thatmay otherwise result from “hot” connection and/or disconnection.

In this regard, FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary powerdistribution module 160 that can be employed to provide power to theRAUs 14, 132 or other power-consuming DAS components, including thosedescribed above. In this embodiment, the power distribution module 160is disposed in a power unit 162. The power unit 162 may be the powerunit 85 previously described above to remotely provide power to the RAUs14, 132. The power unit 162 may be comprised of a chassis 164 or otherhousing that is configured to support power distribution modules 160.The power unit 162 provides support for receiving power from an externalpower source 166, which may be AC power, to the power unit 162 to thenbe distributed within the power unit 162 to the power distributionmodules 160 disposed therein, as will be described in more detail below.The power unit 162 may be configured to support multiple powerdistribution modules 162. Each power distribution module 162 may beconfigured to provide power to multiple RAUs 14, 132.

With continuing reference to FIG. 7, the distribution of power from theexternal power source 166 to the power distribution modules 160 and fromthe power distribution modules 160 to output power ports that can beelectrically coupled to power-consuming DAS components will nowdescribed. In this embodiment, the power unit 162 contains an externalinput power port 168 disposed in the chassis 164. The external inputpower port 168 is configured to be electrically coupled to the externalpower source 166 to supply input power 170 to the external input powerconnector 168. For example, the external power source 166 may be ACpower, and may be either 110 Volts (V) or 220 Volts (V). To distributethe power from the external power source 166 to the power distributionmodules 160 disposed in the power unit 162, the power unit 162 containsa midplane interface connector 172. In this embodiment, the midplaneinterface connector 172 is comprised of an AC connector 172A to carry ACsignals, and a DC connector 172B to carry DC signals. The powerdistribution module 160 contains a complementary connector 174 that canbe connected to the midplane interface connector 172 to electricallyconnect the power distribution module 160 to the power unit 162. Forexample, the power unit 162 may contain a midplane interface bus thatcontains a plurality of midplane interface connectors 172 to allow aplurality of power distribution modules 160 to interface with themidplane interface bus.

With continuing reference to FIG. 7, the power distribution module 160includes an input power port 176 that is configured to receive inputpower from the external power source 166. The input power port 176 isprovided as part of the connector 174 to allow the external power source166 to be electrically coupled to the input power port 176 and thus tothe power distribution module 160. The power distribution module 160 inthis embodiment contains an optional power converter 178 to convert theinput power 170 from the external power source 166 to DC power 180. Inthis regard, the power converter 178 is electrically coupled to theinput power port 176 to receive the input power 170 from the externalpower source 166. The power converter 178 converts the input power 170from the external power source 166 to output power 180, which is DCpower in this example. For example, the power converter 178 may convertthe input power 170 to 56 VDC output power 180, as a non-limitingexample. A secondary power converter 182 may receive the output power180 and may convert the output power 180 to a second output power 184 ata different voltage, such as 12 VDC for example, to provide power to acooling fan 186 in the power distribution module 160.

With continuing reference to FIG. 7, the power converter 178 may alsodistribute the output power 180 to a power controller 188. As will bedescribed in more detail below, the power controller 188 controlswhether the output power 180 is distributed to an output power port 190to be distributed to power-consuming DAS devices electrically coupled tothe output power port 190. The output power port 190 in this embodimentis electrically coupled to an output power connector 192 through theconnectors 172, 174, as illustrated in FIG. 7. Thus, the output power180 can be distributed to power-consuming DAS devices by electricalcoupling to the output power connector 192 in the power distributionmodule 160. In this regard, the power controller 188 contains a powerenable port 194. The power controller 188 is configured to selectivelydistribute the output power 180 to the output power port 190 based on apower enable signal 196 provided on a power enable line 198 coupled tothe power enable port 194. In this regard, the power controller 188 isconfigured to distribute the output power 180 to the output power port190 if the power enable signal 196 communicated on the power enable line198 indicates to activate power. Activation of power means providing theoutput power 180 to the output power port 190 to be distributed topower-consuming DAS devices electrically coupled to the output powerport 190. When output power 180 is activated and supplied to the outputpower connector 192, the output power 180 may also be coupled to alight, such as a light emitting diode (LED) 200, to signify that outputpower 180 is active at the output power connector 192. The powercontroller 188 is also configured to not distribute the output power 180to the output power port 190 if the power enable signal 196 communicatedon the power enable line 198 indicates to deactivate power. This powercontroller 188 and enable feature allows the “hot” connection anddisconnection of the power distribution module 160 from the power unit162 in this embodiment, as will be described in more detail below.

With continuing reference to FIG. 7, in this embodiment, one source ofthe power enable signal 196 is the power disable/enable feature 202. Thepower enable/disable feature 202 may be a conductor or pin on the powerdistribution module 160, as will be described in more detail below. Thepower enable/disable feature 202 may be provided by other means. Thepower enable/disable feature 202 in this embodiment is configured toclose a circuit on the power enable line 198 when an output powerconnector 204 is connected to the output power connector 192 of thepower distribution module 160. When connected, the output powerconnector 204 will then be electrically coupled to the connector 174 ofthe power distribution module 160 which is connected to the midplaneinterface connector 172 of the power unit 162 when the powerdistribution module 160 is installed. As will be discussed in moredetail below, the power enable/disable feature 202 may only beconfigured to close the circuit on the power enable line 198 until allother conductors of the output power connector 204 coupled to the outputpower connector 192 are fully electrically coupled to the midplaneinterface connector 172 via the connector 174. In this manner,electrical arcing between the output power connector 204 and the outputpower connector 192 may be avoided, because the power controller 188does not provide output power 180 to the output power port 190 and theoutput power connector 192 until complete electrical coupling isestablished between the output power connector 204 and the output powerconnector 192.

Electrical arcing is a luminous discharge of current that is formed whena strong current jumps a gap in a circuit or between two conductors. Ifoutput power 180 is being provided by the power controller 188 to theoutput power port 190 and output power connector 192 before completeelectrical contact is made between the output power connector 204 andthe output power connector 192, electrical arcing may occur. Electricalarcing can cause electrical conductor corrosion and/or damage to thepower distribution module 160 and/or its components and anypower-consuming DAS components connected to the output power connector192 due to the high voltage and/or discharge.

With continuing reference to FIG. 7, if the output power 180 was beingprovided to the output power port 190 before a complete electricalconnection was made between the output power connector 192 and theoutput power connector 204, electrical arcing and/or electricalconductor corrosion may occur. Electrical arcing may occur duringdisconnection of the output power connector 204 from the output powerconnector 192 due to the output power 180 being “hot” and being activelysupplied to the output power connector 192. The power controller 188herein allows an output power connector 204 to be disconnected from theoutput power connector 192 while the input power 170 is “hot” or active,because the power enable/disable feature 202 is configured to open thecircuit to the power enable line 198 to cause the power controller 188to not provide the output power 180 to the output power port 190 beforethe electrical contact is decoupled between the output power connector204 and the output power connector 192. In a similar regard, the powercontroller 188 also allows the output power connector 204 to beconnected to the output power connector 192 while the input power 170 is“hot” or active, because the power enable/disable feature 202 isconfigured to close the circuit to the power enable line 198 to enablethe power controller 188 to provide the output power 180 to the outputpower port 190 once complete electrical contact is established betweenthe output power connector 204 and the output power connector 192.

In a similar regard with continuing reference to FIG. 7, the powerdistribution module 160 is also configured to activate and deactivateproviding output power 180 to the output power connector 192 uponinstallation (i.e., connection) or removal (i.e., disconnection) of thepower distribution module 160 from the power unit 162. Morespecifically, the power enable/disable feature 202 is configured to onlyclose the circuit on the power enable line 198 to enable the powercontroller 188 to provide output power 180 until all other conductors ofthe connector 174 of the power distribution module 160 are completelycoupled to the midplane interface connector 172 during installation ofthe power distribution module 160 in the power unit 162. In this manner,electrical arcing between the output power connector 204 and the outputpower connector 192 may be avoided when the power distribution module160 is installed in the power unit 162 when input power 170 is “hot.”This is because the power controller 188 does not provide output power180 to the output power port 190 and the output power connector 204until complete electrical coupling is established between the connector174 of the power distribution module 160 and the midplane interfaceconnector 172. This reduces or avoids the risk of electrical arcing if aload is placed on the output power connector 204 connected to the outputpower connector 192 when the power distribution module 160 is connectedto and disconnected from the power unit 162 when input power 170 isactive.

Also, the power enable/disable feature 202 is configured to open thecircuit on the power enable line 198 to disable output power 180 frombeing provided by the output power port 190 during removal ordisconnection of the power distribution module 160 from the power unit162. The power enable/disable feature 202 is configured to open thecircuit on the power enable line 198 to disable output power 180 beforethe connector 174 of the power distribution module 160 begins todecouple from the midplane interface connector 172. In this manner,electrical arcing between the output power connector 204 and the outputpower connector 192 may be avoided if the power distribution module 160is removed while input power 170 is “hot.” This is because the powercontroller 188 disables output power 180 to the output power port 190and the output power connector 204 before electrical decoupling startsto being between the connector 174 of the power distribution module 160and the midplane interface connector 172 during removal of the powerdistribution module 160. This reduces or avoids the risk of electricalarcing if a load is placed on the output power connector 204 connectedto the output power connector 192 when the power distribution module 160is disconnected from the power unit 162 when input power 170 is active.

Also, with reference to FIG. 7, the fan 186 may be configured to providediagnostic or other operational data 195 to the power controller 188.For example, the power controller 188 may be configured to disableproviding output power 180 if a fault or other error condition isreported by the fan 186 to the power controller 188.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of exemplary internal components of thepower distribution module 160 in FIG. 7 and the power unit 162 to allow“hot” connection and/or disconnection of the power distribution module160 from the power unit 162 and remote antenna units (RAUs) 14, 132 in adistributed antenna system. Common element numbers between FIG. 7 andFIG. 8 signify common elements and functionality. Only one powerdistribution module 160 is shown, but more than one power distributionmodules 160 may be provided in the power unit 162. As shown in FIG. 8,there are two output power connectors 192A, 192B that allow two powercables 210A, 210B, via their output power connectors 204A, 204B, to beconnected to the output power connectors 192A, 192B to provide power totwo RAUs 14, 132. Alternatively, one RAU 14, 132 requiring higher powercould be connected to both output power connectors 204A, 204B. The powerdistribution module 160 in this embodiment is configured to distributepower to multiple RAUs 14, 132. Output connectors 212A, 212B aredisposed on opposite ends of the power cables 210A, 210B from outputpower connectors 204A, 204B. Output connectors 212A, 212B are configuredto be connected to RAU power connectors 214A, 214B to provide power tothe RAUs 14, 132. The power cables 210A, 210B are configured such thattwo conductors (pins 3 and 4 as illustrated) are shorted when the outputconnectors 212A, 212B are electrically connected to RAU power connectors214A, 214B in the RAUs 14, 132. The conductors in the RAU powerconnectors 214A, 214B corresponding to pins 3 and 4 are shorted insidethe RAU 14, 132.

In this regard, FIG. 9 is a side perspective view of an output powerconnector 204 being connected to the output power connector 192 of thepower distribution module 160. FIG. 9 also shows the connector 174 ofpower distribution module 160 about to be inserted into the midplaneinterface connector 172 of the power unit 162 to couple input power 170to the power distribution module 160 to be distributed through theoutput power connector 192 to the output power connector 204 to leastone power-consuming DAS device. FIG. 10A illustrates a front, sideperspective view of an exemplary power distribution module 160 with acover installed. FIG. 10B illustrates a front, side perspective view ofthe power distribution module 160 in FIG. 10A with the cover removed.FIG. 10C illustrates a rear, side perspective view of the powerdistribution module 160 in FIG. 10A.

With continuing reference to FIG. 8, when the output power connectors204A, 204B are electrically connected to the power cables 210A, 210B,the short created between pins 3 and 4 in the RAU power connectors 214A,214B cause pins 3 and 4 to be shorted in the output power connectors204A, 204B coupled to the midplane interface connector 172 and theconnector 174 of the power distribution module 160, and the output powerconnectors 192A, 192B. This is a power enable/disable feature 202A. Inthis regard, the power enable ports 194A, 194B via power enable lines198A, 198B are activated, thereby activating the power controllers 188A,188B to provide output power 180 to the connector 174 through midplaneinterface connector 172 and to the RAUs 14, 132 via the power cables210A, 210B. When the output power connectors 204A, 204B or outputconnectors 212A, 212B are disconnected, pins 3 and 4 on the output powerconnectors 192A, 192B are not short circuited. This causes the powerenable ports 194A, 194B via power enable lines 198A, 198B to bedeactivated, thereby causing the power controllers 188A, 188B todeactivate output power 180 to the connector 174 through midplaneinterface connector 172 and the output power connectors 192A, 192B,which may be electrically connected to the power cables 210A, 210B. Inthis regard, connection and disconnection of the RAUs 14, 132 to theoutput power connectors 192A, 192B causes the power controllers 188A,188B to activate and deactivate output power 180, respectively.

With continuing reference to FIG. 8, an alternative circuitconfiguration 220 may be provided. Instead of pins 3 and 4 being shortedtogether in the power cables 210A, 210B, pins 3 and 4 may be shorted inthe RAU power connectors 214A, 214B of the RAUs 14, 132. This will causea short circuit between pins 3 and 4 in the power cables 210A, 210B whenthe output connectors 212A, 212B of the power cables 210A, 210B areconnected to the RAU power connectors 214A, 214B of the RAUs 114, 132.The alternative circuit configuration 220 provides extra conductors inthe power cables 210A, 210B that can increase cost in the power cable210A, 210B. When connected, the power enable ports 194A, 194B via powerenable lines 198A, 198B are activated, thereby activating the powercontrollers 188A, 188B to provide output power 180 to the connector 174through midplane interface connector 172 and to the RAUs 14, 132 via thepower cables 210A, 210B. When the output power connectors 204A, 204B oroutput connectors 212A, 212B are disconnected, pins 3 and 4 on theoutput power connectors 192A, 192B are not short circuited. This causesthe power enable ports 194A, 194B via power enable lines 198A, 198B tobe deactivated, thereby causing the power controllers 188A, 188B todeactivate output power 180 to the connector 174 through midplaneinterface connector 172 and the output power connectors 192A, 192B,which may be electrically connected to the power cables 210A, 210B. Inthis regard, connection and disconnection of the RAUs 14, 132 to theoutput power connectors 192A, 192B causes the power controllers 188A,188B to activate and deactivate output power 180, respectively.

With continuing reference to FIG. 8, output power 180A, 180B is enabledby the power controllers 188A, 188B when the power distribution module160 connector 174 is connected to midplane interface connector 172 inthe power unit 162. In this regard, a short is created between pins 11and 12 in the midplane interface connector 172 when the powerdistribution module 160 connector 174 is connected to the midplaneinterface connector 172 through the power enable/disable feature 202B.The power enable ports 194A, 194B via power enable lines 198A, 198B areactivated, thereby activating the power controllers 188A, 188B toprovide output power 180 to the connector 174 through midplane interfaceconnector 172 and to the RAUs 14, 132 via the power cables 210A, 210B.Similarly, output power 180A, 180B is disabled by the power controllers188A, 188B when the power distribution module 160 connector 174 isdisconnected from midplane interface connector 172 in the power unit162. In this regard, pins 11 and 12 are no longer shorted. This causesthe power enable ports 194A, 194B via power enable lines 198A, 198B tobe deactivated, thereby causing the power controllers 188A, 188B todeactivate output power 180 to the connector 174 through midplaneinterface connector 172 and the output power connectors 192A, 192B,which may be electrically connected to the power cables 210A, 210B. Inthis regard, connection and disconnection of the power distributionmodule 160 to the power unit 162 causes the power controllers 188A, 188Bto activate and deactivate output power 180, respectively.

The power converter 178 can be provided to produce any voltage level ofDC power desired. In one embodiment, the power converter 178 can producerelatively low voltage DC current. A low voltage may be desired that ispower-limited and Safety Extra Low Voltage (SELV) compliant, althoughsuch is not required. For example, according to UnderwritersLaboratories (UL) Publication No. 60950, SELV-compliant circuits producevoltages that are safe to touch both under normal operating conditionsand after faults. In this embodiment, two power controllers 188A, 188Bare provided so no more than 100 Watts (W) in this example are providedover output power ports 190A, 190B to stay within the UnderwritersLaboratories (UL) Publication No. 60950, and provide a SELV-compliantcircuit. The 100 VA limit discussed therein is for a Class 2 DC powersource, as shown in Table 11(B) in NFPA 70, Article 725. Providing aSELV compliant power converter 178 and power unit 162 may be desired ornecessary for fire protection and to meet fire protection and othersafety regulations and/or standards. The power converter 178 isconfigured to provide up to 150 W of power in this example. The 150 W issplit among the output power ports 190A, 190B.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary power controller 188 thatmay be provided in the power distribution module 160 in FIG. 7. Commonelement numbers between FIG. 11 and FIG. 7 indicate common elements andthus will not be re-described. As illustrated in FIG. 11, an integratedcircuit (IC) chip 230 is provided to control wherein output power 180from the power converter 178 will be provided to the connector 174 ofthe power distribution module 160 configured to be connected to themidplane interface connector 172 of the power unit 162.

To provide for “hot” connection of the power distribution module 160 tothe power unit 162, and more particularly the connector 174 to themidplane interface connector 172, the power controller 188 should notenable output power 180 until complete electrical contact is madebetween the conductors of the connector 174 and the midplane interfaceconnector 172. Otherwise, electrical arcing may occur. To provide for“hot” disconnection of the power distribution module 160 to the powerunit 162, the power controller 188 should disable output power 180before complete electrical contact is decoupled between the conductorsof the connector 174 and the midplane interface connector 172.Similarly, to provide for “hot” connection of power-consuming DASdevices to the output power connector 192 of a power distribution module160, it is important that the power controller 188 not enable outputpower 180 until complete electrical contact is made between the outputpower connector 192 and the output power connector 204. Otherwise,electrical arcing may occur. To provide for “hot” disconnection of thepower distribution module 160 to the power unit 162, the powercontroller 188 should disable output power 180 before completeelectrical contact is decoupled between the conductors of the outputpower connector 192 and the output power connector 204.

In this regard, short conductor pins are provided in the midplaneinterface connector 172 and the output power connector 204 that areconfigured to be coupled to the power enable line 198 when contact isestablished. This is illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 13. FIG. 12 is a sideview of the midplane interface connector 172 that includes a shortconductor pin 202A, which is the power enable/disable feature 202 inthis embodiment. FIG. 13 is a side view of output power pins of theoutput power connector 204 of the power cable 210 aligned to beconnected to the output power connector 192 of the power distributionmodule 160.

With reference to FIG. 12, the interface connector 174 includes otherconductors 225 that are longer than the short conductor pin 202A. Thus,when the midplane interface connector 172 is connected to the connector174, electrical contact is fully established to the other conductors 225before the short conductor pin 202A enables the power enable line 198 toenable the power controller 188 to distribute the output power 180.Thus, electrical arcing can be avoided when “hot” connection is madebetween the midplane interface connector 172 and the connector 174 ofthe power distribution module 160. Similarly, to provide for “hot”disconnection, the short conductor pin 202A will electrically decouplefrom the connector 174 first before electrical decoupling occurs to theother conductors 225. Thus, the power controller 188 will disable outputpower 180 before electrical contact is decoupled between the otherconductors 225 and the connector 174. Thus, electrical arcing can beavoided when “hot” disconnection is made between the midplane interfaceconnector 172 and the connector 174 of the power distribution module160. The short conductor pin 202A could be reversed and disposed in theconnector 174 of the power distribution module 160 output powerconnector 192 as opposed to the midplane interface connector 172.

With reference to FIG. 13, a similar arrangement is provided. Thereinthe output power connector 204 includes other conductors 227 that arelonger than the short conductor pin 202B. Thus, when the output powerconnector 204 is connected to the output power connector 192, electricalcontact is fully established to the other conductors 227 before theshort conductor pin 202B enables the power enable line 198 to enable thepower controller 188 to distribute the output power 180. Thus,electrical arcing can be avoided when “hot” connection is made betweenthe output power connector 204 and the output power connector 192 of thepower distribution module 160. Similarly, to provide for “hot”disconnection, the short conductor pin 202B will electrically decouplefrom the output power connector 192 first before electrical decouplingoccurs to the other conductors 227. Thus, the power controller 188 willdisable output power 180 before electrical contact is decoupled betweenthe other conductors 227 and the output power connector 192. Thus,electrical arcing can be avoided when “hot” disconnection is madebetween the output power connector 204 and the output power connector192 of the power distribution module 160. The short conductor pin 202Bcould be reversed and disposed in the output power connector 192 asopposed to the output power connector 204.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary power unit 162 configuredto support one or more power distribution modules 160 to provide powerto RAUs 14, 132 in a distributed antenna system. In this regard, FIG. 14is a schematic top cutaway view of a power unit 162 that may be employedin the exemplary RoF distributed communication system. The power unit162 provides power to remote units, and connectivity to a first centralunit, in a manner similar to the power unit 85 illustrated in FIG. 3.The power unit 162, however, may also provide connectivity between RAUs14, 132 and a second central unit 244 (not illustrated). The secondcentral unit 244 can be, for example, a unit providing Ethernet serviceto the remote units. For the purpose of this embodiment, the firstcentral unit will be referred to as the HEU 91, and the second centralunit will be referred to as a central Ethernet unit, or CEU 244. The CEU244 can be collocated with the power unit 162, as for example, in anelectrical closet, or the CEU 244 can be located with or within the HEU91.

According to one embodiment, if Ethernet or some other additionalservice (e.g. a second cellular communication provider) is to beprovided over the system 10, four optical fibers (two uplink/downlinkfiber pairs) may be routed to each remote unit location. In this case,two fibers are for uplink/downlink from the HEU 91 to the remote unit,and two fibers are for uplink/downlink from the CEU 244. One or more ofthe remote units may be equipped with additional hardware, or aseparate, add-on module designed for Ethernet transmission to which thesecond fiber pair connects. A third fiber pair could also be provided ateach remote unit location to provide additional services.

As illustrated in FIG. 14, the power unit 162 may be provided in anenclosure 250. The enclosure 250 may be generally similar in function tothe wall mount enclosure, except that one or more sets of furcations inthe power unit 162 can be internal to the enclosure 250. One or morepower units 162 can be located on a floor of an office building, amultiple dwelling unit, etc. to provide power and connectivity to remoteunits on that floor. The exemplary power unit 162 is intended as a 1 Urack mount configuration, although the power unit 162 may also beconfigured as a 3 U version, for example, to accommodate additionalremote units.

A furcation 260, located inside the enclosure 250, of the riser cable 84(e.g., FIG. 3A) breaks pairs of optical fibers from the riser cable 84that are connected at an uplink end to the HEU 91, to provide opticalcommunication input links to the HEU 91. The furcation 260 can be a Size2 Edge™ Plug furcation, Part 02-013966-001 available from Corning CableSystems LLC of Hickory N.C. If the CEU 244 is located with the HEU 91,optical fibers connecting the CEU 244 to the power unit 162 can beincluded in the riser cable 84. A furcation 270 breaks fiber pairs fromthe CEU 244 to provide optical communication input links to the CEU 244.The furcation 270 can be a Size 2 Edge™ Plug furcation, Part02-013966-001 available from Corning Cable Systems LLC.

The optical communication input links from the HEU 91 and the CEU 244are downlink and uplink optical fiber pairs to be connected to theremote units. In this embodiment, the furcated leg contains eight (8)optical fiber pairs to provide connections from the CEU 244 and HEU 91to up to four (4) remote units, although any number of fibers and remoteunits can be used. The legs are connected to the power unit 162 atfurcations 280, which can be arranged as two rows of four 2-fiberconnectors on one face of the enclosure 250. The illustrated furcations280 are internally mounted in the enclosure 250. In an alternativeembodiment, the furcations 280 can be mounted on a tray 286 that ismounted to an exterior of the enclosure 250.

For communication between the HEU 91 and the remote units, the furcatedleg 262 from the furcation 260 can be pre-connectorized with afiber-optic connector to facilitate easy connection to a first adaptermodule 290 within the power unit 162. The first adapter module 290includes a multi-fiber connector 292 that receives the connector of thefurcated leg 262. The connector 292 can be, for example, a 12-fiber MTPconnector. A series of six 2-fiber connectors 294, for example, at theother side of the first adapter module 290, connects to fiber pairs 282from each furcation 280. Each fiber pair 282 can be connectorized with a2-fiber connector that connects to one of six connectors 294 of thefirst adapter module 290. In this arrangement, the first adapter module290 has the capacity to receive twelve fibers at the connector 292, andsix separate connectorized fiber pairs 282. This exemplary arrangementallows for optical communication between six remote units and the HEU91, although only four such connections are shown in the illustratedembodiment. The first adapter module 290 can be, for example, a 12/F LCEDGE™ Module/07-016841 for riser connection available from Corning CableSystems LLC.

For communication between the CEU 244 and the remote units, or an add-onmodule of a remote unit, etc., the furcated leg 272 from the furcation270 can be pre-connectorized with a fiber-optic connector to facilitateeasy connection to a second adapter module 300 within the power unit162. In the illustrated embodiment, the second adapter module 300 isdirectly beneath the first adapter module 290, and thus is not visiblein FIG. 14. The second adapter module 300 includes a multi-fiberconnector 293 that receives the connector of the leg 272. The connector293 can be, for example, a 12-fiber MTP connector. A series of six2-fiber connectors, for example, at the other side of the second adaptermodule 300, connects to fiber pairs 284 from each furcation 280. Eachfiber pair 284 can be connectorized with a 2-fiber connector thatconnects to one of six connectors of the second adapter module 300. Inthis arrangement, the second adapter module 300 has the capacity toreceive twelve fibers at the connector 293, and six separateconnectorized fiber pairs 284. This arrangement allows for opticalcommunication between, for example, six Ethernet modules that arecollocated or within respective remote units, and the CEU 244, althoughonly four such connections are shown in the illustrated embodiment. Thesecond adapter module 300 can be, for example, a 12/F LC EDGE™Module/07-016841 for riser connection available from Corning CableSystems LLC.

One or more power distribution modules 160 can be included in theenclosure 250. According to one embodiment, one power distributionmodule 160 can be connected to each remote unit by a pair of electricalconductors. Electrical conductors include, for example, coaxial cable,twisted copper conductor pairs, etc. Each power distribution module 160is shown connected to a twisted pair of conductors 324. The powerdistribution modules 160 plug into a back plane and the conductors thatpower the remote units connect to the back plane with a separateelectrical connector from the optical fibers, although hybridoptical/electrical connectors could be used. Each cable extending toremote units can include two fibers and two twisted copper conductorpairs, although additional fibers and electrical conductors could beincluded.

The power distribution modules 160 are aligned side-by-side in theenclosure 250. One power distribution module 160 can be assigned to eachremote unit, based upon power requirements. If an add-on module, such asan Ethernet module, is included at a remote unit, a second powerdistribution module 160 can be assigned to power the add-on module. Ifthe remote unit and add-on module power budgets are low, a single powerdistribution module 160 may suffice to power that location. Theallocation of power and optical connectivity is accordingly adaptabledepending upon the number and power requirements of remote units,additional modules, and hardware, etc. The power distribution modules160 can be connected to a power bus that receives local power at thepower unit 162 location.

As previously discussed, the power distribution modules 160 may includea fan 186 that is powered by the module 160. Each power distributionmodule 160 can have two output plugs, to allow for powering of high orlow power remote units. In FIG. 14, unused twisted conductor pairs 326are parked at location 328. The conductor pairs 326 could be used topower Power-over-Ethernet applications, etc., although that mightrequire fewer remote units to be used, or additional power distributionmodules 160.

The illustrated power distribution modules 160 can have a power outputof 93-95 W. The power distribution modules can operate without fans, butthe power ratings may drop, or a larger enclosure space may be requiredto ensure proper cooling. If no fan is used, the power ratings can dropfrom, for example, 100 W to 60-70 W. UL requirements can be followedthat limit the power distribution to 100 VA per remote unit array. In analternate 1 U module configuration, the power unit 162 could have sixpower distribution modules 160 and no adapter modules. The modules couldsupply, for example, remote units with greater than 80 W loads. In analternate 3 U module configuration, the power unit 162 could have twelvepower distribution modules 160 and can support twelve remote units.

The power unit 162 discussed herein can encompass any type offiber-optic equipment and any type of optical connections and receiveany number of fiber-optic cables or single or multi-fiber cables orconnections. The power unit 162 may include fiber-optic components suchas adapters or connectors to facilitate optical connections. Thesecomponents can include, but are not limited to the fiber-optic componenttypes of LC, SC, ST, LCAPC, SCAPC, MTRJ, and FC. The power unit 162 maybe configured to connect to any number of remote units. One or morepower supplies either contained within the power unit 162 or associatedwith the power unit 162 may provide power to the power distributionmodule in the power unit 162. The power distribution module can beconfigured to distribute power to remote units with or without voltageand current protections and/or sensing. The power distribution modulecontained in the power unit 162 may be modular where it can be removedand services or permanently installed in the power unit 162.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram representation of additional detailregarding an exemplary computer system 340 that may be included in thepower distribution module 160 and provided in the power controller 188.The computer system 340 is adapted to execute instructions from anexemplary computer-readable medium to perform power managementfunctions. In this regard, the computer system 400 may include a set ofinstructions for causing the power controller 188 to enable and disablecoupling of power to the output power port 190, as previously described.The power controller 188 may be connected (e.g., networked) to othermachines in a LAN, an intranet, an extranet, or the Internet. The powercontroller 188 may operate in a client-server network environment, or asa peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment.While only a single device is illustrated, the term “device” shall alsobe taken to include any collection of devices that individually orjointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform anyone or more of the methodologies discussed herein. The power controller188 may be a circuit or circuits included in an electronic board card,such as a printed circuit board (PCB) as an example, a server, apersonal computer, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a computing pad, a mobile device, or any otherdevice, and may represent, for example, a server or a user's computer.

The exemplary computer system 340 of the power controller 188 in thisembodiment includes a processing device or processor 344, a main memory356 (e.g., read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, dynamic random accessmemory (DRAM) such as synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), etc.), and a staticmemory 348 (e.g., flash memory, static random access memory (SRAM),etc.), which may communicate with each other via the data bus 350.Alternatively, the processing device 344 may be connected to the mainmemory 356 and/or static memory 348 directly or via some otherconnectivity means. The processing device 344 may be a controller, andthe main memory 356 or static memory 348 may be any type of memory, eachof which can be included in the power controller 188.

The processing device 344 represents one or more general-purposeprocessing devices such as a microprocessor, central processing unit, orthe like. More particularly, the processing device 344 may be a complexinstruction set computing (CISC) microprocessor, a reduced instructionset computing (RISC) microprocessor, a very long instruction word (VLIW)microprocessor, a processor implementing other instruction sets, orprocessors implementing a combination of instruction sets. Theprocessing device 344 is configured to execute processing logic ininstructions 346 for performing the operations and steps discussedherein.

The computer system 340 may further include a network interface device352. The computer system 340 also may or may not include an input 354 toreceive input and selections to be communicated to the computer system340 when executing instructions. The computer system 340 also may or maynot include an output 364, including but not limited to a display, avideo display unit (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathoderay tube (CRT)), an alphanumeric input device (e.g., a keyboard), and/ora cursor control device (e.g., a mouse).

The computer system 340 may or may not include a data storage devicethat includes instructions 358 stored in a computer-readable medium 360.The instructions 358 may also reside, completely or at least partially,within the main memory 356 and/or within the processing device 344during execution thereof by the computer system 340, the main memory 356and the processing device 344 also constituting computer-readablemedium. The instructions 358 may further be transmitted or received overa network 362 via the network interface device 352.

Further, as used herein, it is intended that terms “fiber optic cables”and/or “optical fibers” include all types of single mode and multi-modelight waveguides, including one or more optical fibers that may beupcoated, colored, buffered, ribbonized and/or have other organizing orprotective structure in a cable such as one or more tubes, strengthmembers, jackets or the like. The optical fibers disclosed herein can besingle mode or multi-mode optical fibers. Likewise, other types ofsuitable optical fibers include bend-insensitive optical fibers, or anyother expedient of a medium for transmitting light signals. An exampleof a bend-insensitive, or bend resistant, optical fiber is ClearCurve®Multimode fiber commercially available from Corning Incorporated.Suitable fibers of this type are disclosed, for example, in U.S. PatentApplication Publication Nos. 2008/0166094 and 2009/0169163, thedisclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the embodiments set forthherein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which theembodiments pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in theforegoing descriptions and the associated drawings. For example, thedistributed antenna systems could include any type or number ofcommunications mediums, including but not limited to electricalconductors, optical fiber, and air (i.e., wireless transmission). Thedistributed antenna systems may distribute any type of communicationssignals, including but not limited to RF communications signals anddigital data communications signals, examples of which are described inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/892,424 entitled “Providing DigitalData Services in Optical Fiber-based Distributed Radio Frequency (RF)Communications Systems, And Related Components and Methods,”incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Multiplexing, such asWDM and/or FDM, may be employed in any of the distributed antennasystems described herein, such as according to the examples provided inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/892,424.

Therefore, it is to be understood that the description and claims arenot to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and thatmodifications and other embodiments are intended to be included withinthe scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A wireless communication system, comprising: acentral unit comprising: at least one first downlink input configured toreceive downlink electrical radio frequency (RF) communications signals;and at least one uplink output configured to receive and communicateuplink electrical RF communications signals; a plurality of remoteantenna units (RAUs) communicatively coupled to the central unit by anoptical fiber link comprising a plurality of optical fibers, each of theplurality of RAUs configured to provide communications to acorresponding coverage area of one or more coverage areas and comprisingone or more optical-to-electrical (O/E) converters and one or moreelectrical-to-optical (E/O) converters; wherein the one or more O/Econverters in one or more of the plurality of RAUs are configured toconvert downlink optical RF communications signals received from one ormore of the plurality of optical fibers to electrical RF communicationssignals to be provided to one or more client devices in the one or morecoverage areas of the plurality of RAUs; and wherein the one or more E/Oconverters in one or more of the plurality of RAUs are configured toconvert electrical RF communications signals received from the one ormore client devices to optical RF communications signals to be providedover one or more of the plurality of optical fibers to the central unit;and at least one power distribution module configured to be disposed ina power unit, the power unit configured to receive power from anexternal power source, wherein the at least one power distributionmodule is electrically coupled to one or more of the plurality of RAUsby a pair of electrical conductors and is configured to provide power toat least one of the plurality of RAUs, and wherein the at least onepower distribution module is configured to be connected and/ordisconnected to and/or from the power unit and/or the at least one ofthe plurality of RAUs while power is being provided to the power unit.2. The wireless communication system of claim 1, wherein the centralunit is configured to: receive and convert the downlink electrical RFcommunications signals into downlink optical RF communications signalsto be provided to the at least one of the plurality of RAUs over one ofmore of the plurality of optical fibers; and receive and convert uplinkoptical RF communications signals from the at least one of the pluralityof RAUs into the uplink electrical RF communications signals.
 3. Thewireless communication system of claim 1, wherein the at least one powerdistribution module comprises: an input power port configured to receiveinput power from an external power source; at least one output powerport configured to receive output power and distribute the output powerto one or more of the plurality of RAUs electrically coupled to the atleast one output power port; and at least one power controllercomprising a power enable port, the at least one power controllerconfigured to selectively distribute the output power based on the inputpower to the at least one output power port based on a power enablesignal coupled to the power enable port.
 4. The wireless communicationsystem of claim 3, further comprising an external input power connectorconfigured to be electrically coupled to an external power source tosupply power to the external input power connector: wherein the inputpower port is configured to receive input power from the external inputpower connector; and wherein the external input power connectorcomprises at least one external input power conductor configured to beelectrically coupled to the input power port and at least one externalinput power enable conductor configured to be electrically coupled tothe power enable port.
 5. The wireless communication system of claim 4,wherein the at least one external input power conductor is comprised ofat least one external input power connector pin, and the at least oneexternal input power enable conductor is comprised of at least oneexternal input power enable pin.
 6. The wireless communication system ofclaim 4, further comprising at least one power converter electricallycoupled to the input power port, the at least one power converterconfigured to: receive the input power from the external power sourcewhen the external input power connector is electrically coupled to theinput power port; convert the input power to the output power; anddistribute the output power to the at least one power controller.
 7. Thewireless communication system of claim 5, wherein the at least oneexternal input power enable pin is shorter in length than the at leastone external input power connector pin, such that when the at least oneexternal input power conductor is electrically coupled to the externalpower source, an electrical connection is established to the at leastone external input power connector pin before an electrical connectionis established to the at least one external input power enable pin. 8.The wireless communication system of claim 3, wherein the at least onepower controller is configured to distribute the output power to the atleast one output power port if the power enable signal coupled to thepower enable port indicates to activate power.
 9. The wirelesscommunication system of claim 3, wherein the input power port comprisesat least one input power conductor configured to receive the input powerand at least one input power enable conductor electrically coupled tothe power enable port.
 10. The wireless communication system of claim 3,wherein the at least one output power port comprises at least one outputpower conductor configured to receive the input power and at least oneoutput power enable conductor electrically coupled to the power enableport.
 11. The wireless communication system of claim 3, wherein the atleast one power distribution module further comprises a plurality ofoutput power connectors and wherein: the input power port is part of aconnector; the power enable port is coupled to a power enable line; anda source of the power enable signal is configured to close a circuit onthe power enable line only when each conductor of the plurality ofoutput power connectors of the at least one power distribution module iselectrically coupled to a midplane interface connector of the power unitvia the connector, wherein the connector is complementary with themidplane interface connector.
 12. A wireless communication system,comprising: a central unit comprising: at least one first downlink inputconfigured to receive downlink electrical radio frequency (RF)communications signals; and at least one uplink output configured toreceive and communicate uplink electrical RF communications signals; aplurality of remote antenna units (RAUs) communicatively coupled to thecentral unit by an optical fiber link comprising a plurality of opticalfibers, each of the plurality of RAUs configured to providecommunications to a corresponding coverage area of one or more coverageareas and comprising one or more optical-to-electrical (O/E) convertersand one or more electrical-to-optical (E/O) converters; wherein the oneor more O/E converters in one or more of the plurality of RAUs areconfigured to convert downlink optical RF communications signalsreceived from one or more of the plurality of optical fibers toelectrical RF communications signals to be provided to one or moreclient devices in the one or more coverage areas of the plurality ofRAUs; and wherein the one or more E/O converters in one or more of theplurality of RAUs are configured to convert electrical RF communicationssignals received from the one or more client devices to optical RFcommunications signals to be provided over one or more of the pluralityof optical fibers to the central unit; and at least one powerdistribution module configured to be disposed in a power unit, the powerunit configured to receive power from an external power source, whereinthe at least one power distribution module is electrically coupled toone or more of the plurality of RAUs by a pair of electrical conductorsand is configured to provide power to at least one of the plurality ofRAUs; and wherein the at least one power distribution module comprises:an input power port configured to receive input power from the externalpower source; at least one output power port configured to receiveoutput power and distribute the output power to one or more of theplurality of RAUs electrically coupled to the at least one output powerport; and at least one power controller comprising a power enable port,the at least one power controller configured to selectively distributethe output power based on the input power to the at least one outputpower port based on a power enable signal coupled to the power enableport.
 13. The wireless communication system of claim 12, wherein thecentral unit is configured to: receive and convert the downlinkelectrical RF communications signals into the downlink optical RFcommunications signals to be provided to the at least one of theplurality of RAUs over one of more of the plurality of optical fibers;and receive and convert uplink optical RF communications signals fromthe at least one of the plurality of RAUs into the uplink electrical RFcommunications signals.
 14. The wireless communication system of claim12, wherein the at least one power controller is configured todistribute the output power to the at least one output power port if thepower enable signal coupled to the power enable port indicates toactivate power, and is configured to not distribute the output power tothe at least one output power port if the power enable signal coupled tothe power enable port indicates to deactivate power.
 15. The wirelesscommunication system of claim 12, wherein the input power port comprisesat least one input power conductor configured to receive the input powerand at least one input power enable conductor electrically coupled tothe power enable port.
 16. The wireless communication system of claim12, wherein the at least one output power port comprises at least oneoutput power conductor configured to receive the input power and atleast one output power enable conductor electrically coupled to thepower enable port.
 17. A wireless communication system, comprising: acentral unit comprising: at least one first downlink input configured toreceive downlink electrical radio frequency (RF) communications signals;and at least one uplink output configured to receive and communicateuplink electrical RF communications signals; a plurality of remoteantenna units (RAUs) communicatively coupled to the central unit by anoptical fiber link comprising a plurality of optical fibers, each of theplurality of RAUs configured to provide communications to acorresponding coverage area of one or more coverage areas and comprisingone or more optical-to-electrical (O/E) converters and one or moreelectrical-to-optical (E/O) converters; wherein the one or more O/Econverters in one or more of the plurality of RAUs are configured toconvert downlink optical RF communications signals received from one ormore of the plurality of optical fibers to electrical RF communicationsignals to be provided to one or more client devices in the one or morecoverage areas of the plurality of RAUs; and wherein the one or more E/Oconverters in one or more of the plurality of RAUs are configured toconvert electrical RF communications signals received from the one ormore client devices to optical RF communications signals to be providedover one or more of the plurality of optical fibers to the central unit;and at least one power distribution module configured to be disposed ina power unit, the power unit configured to receive power from anexternal power source, wherein the at least one power distributionmodule is electrically coupled to one or more of the plurality of RAUsby a pair of electrical conductors and is configured to provide power toat least one of the plurality of RAUs; and wherein the at least onepower distribution module comprises: at least one power controllercomprising a power enable port, the at least one power controllerconfigured to receive input power and selectively distribute outputpower to at least one output power port based on a power enable signalcoupled to the power enable port; at least one input power conductorconfigured to receive the input power from the external power source; atleast one input power enable conductor electrically coupled to the powerenable port; at least one output power conductor configured to receivethe input power from the at least one power controller; and at least oneoutput power enable conductor electrically coupled to the power enableport.
 18. The wireless communication system of claim 17, wherein the atleast one input power enable conductor is configured to receive thepower enable signal.
 19. The wireless communication system of claim 17,wherein the at least one output power enable conductor is configured toreceive a power enable signal, and wherein the at least one output powerconductor is configured to receive the output power from the at leastone power controller when the external power source is coupled to the atleast one power distribution module and the power enable port receivesthe power enable signal indicating to distribute power.
 20. The wirelesscommunication system of claim 17, wherein the at least one powerdistribution module further comprises an input power port configured toreceive the input power from the external power source, at least oneoutput power port configured to receive the output power and distributethe output power to one or more of the plurality of RAUs electricallycoupled to the at least one output power port, and a plurality of outputpower connectors, and wherein: the input power port is part of aconnector; the power enable port is coupled to a power enable line; anda source of the power enable signal is configured to close a circuit onthe power enable line only when each conductor of the plurality ofoutput power connectors of the at least one power distribution module iselectrically coupled to a midplane interface connector of the power unitvia the connector, wherein the connector is complementary with themidplane interface connector.